2012 Trial World Championship Round11

Santo Stefano D'Aveto 8/7/2012

2nd Place, Two Points Away from the Victory

At round 11 of the Trial championship held in Italy, Fujinami stood up on the podium for the fourth time in the season, and it was his first time to be up there as the 2nd place. The winner was Bou, who bettered the Japanese rider only two points to capture the victory in Italy as well as the 2012 championship. It was the happy results for Fujinami, to be 2nd, but knowing that he missed the victory with a small margin, he had a mixed feeling toward his result.

The condition of the finger was getting better, but without having an operation, it was nothing more than being broken. He brought the gloves he had two years ago, which the leather for the little finger had more room, so he did not have to use the glove with the tip for the little finger cut off.

Fujinami picked the early starting order. Raga, Fajardo, and after some riders in between he followed. Fujinami had Bou and Fajardo staring behind him, so he decided to hurry his way to catch up Cabestany and followed him closely. Watching the riding closely, Fujinami found Cabestany in a good condition in Italy. The Spaniard was riding without any five but many cleans. In contrast, Fujinami could not ride strongly. He expected himself being down in the position.

Fujinami glanced at the scoreboard after Lap1. There he found, as he expected, Cabestany was doing great, but it was interesting to find out that the rest of the riders were all in a close fight, and Fujinami was not left behind. He then made up his mind to have an objective for the rest of the day to fight for the second place. The point situation before Lap2 was, Cabestany was first with six points, followed by Bou with 18 points. Fujinami was third with 21 points being in a tie with Dabill.

Fujinami started his Lap2, and he made a regrettable mistake at the section3 with a full mark. However, he regained his composure at the very next section to ride with a single point, where previously he dropped five points. He did not know then, but a single point at the section4 was a very effective score, as there were only Dabill and Fujinami, who stayed away from a full mark at the section in the top riders.

Fujinami went on to drop another five points at the section6, but it was not a very influential mistake, as there were only Cabestany at Lap1, then Bou at Lap2 to stay away from the full mark. Then he marked nine consecutive cleans after the section7 to finish the lap with 11 points, ten points less than Lap1. It was actually the record lap at Lap2 for the day. He did not know the point situation, but he felt "the mission accomplished," he said later.

Fujinami kept following Cabestany until the section7 of Lap2, but he was left behind when he took time to ride carefully the section8. It was the section, where he was penalized the full mark with going backwards at the previous lap. Cabestatny left the Japanese to catch up Raga. While following Cabestany, Fujinami found the Spaniard was not as strong as Lap1, but after building an enormous advantage at Lap1, the Spaniard's victory he thought was unshakable.

Fujinami also knew Bou was not in a great shape after the results of Lap1, but he believed the teammate would come up to fight for the first position like he did always in the past. Indeed, before the final section of the day, Fujinami was told he had two points too many than Bou to be in a tie in point with Cabestany. At first Fujinami was confused about his position, and asked if he was fighting for the victory, then the answer was yes. Surly, it was a very sudden news for the Japanese rider.

Cabestany dropped a single point at his final ride. Fujinami marked clean to stand a point ahead of the Spaniard. It was all down to the teammate, and if the Spanish rider would drop two points, the victory was Fujinami's.

Toni Bou, of course, did not make no mistake to mark clean at the final section, to finish the lap with 30 points to be first. Fujinami was second with 32 points followed by Cabestany with 33 points at third. The condition of the little finger is better than it was in Andorra, but he had a trouble putting a lot of strength to his hand. It was fortunate for him in Italy that the sections were not so much demanding to give stress to his hand.

The championship now takes a short break until the UK grand prix at the end of July. Originally Fujinami was to have an operation after the UK grand prix, but he has a feeling now that he may not have an operation but to let it heal up itself.

Quote from Fujigas:

I never thought I was in the battle for the victory. It was a bit disappointing to know it after the competition. It was a great day for me to take the 2nd place, as well as my teammate, Bou capturing the championship with the victory today. Three rounds after getting injured in Spain, I have finished third on the podium and finished 2nd on the podium. We will have a short break then two more rounds to go. I will try my best to get ready for the battles.